An afternoon of absorbing attacking from Swansea ended in a rough house, with both teams seeing red.

And Burnley were left in the doghouse, their first defeat providing them with a stark message of how tough Championship life can be.

For nearly an hour the Clarets were pinned back, almost drowned by a tidal wave of attacks.

Only when Darren Pratley and Tyrone Mears were each shown red cards in two minutes of madness did the mood — and match — change.

Pratley was booked for ­alleged diving nine minutes earlier, and referee Steve Tanner had no option but to produce a second yellow card following his crude 57th-minute challenge on Mears.

And Mears had barely dusted himself down when he picked up his second booking for a wild lunge at Nathan Dyer to also see red.

It brought a stinging ­rebuke from his manager Brian Laws, who fumed: “Tyrone has to look at himself. It meant we lost the extra man advantage, which could have changed the game.

“He’s experienced enough to know that you play with your head — not your heart.”

Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers confessed: “I felt both decisions were wrong, it was never a dirty game.

“It left things a little hairy towards the end, but we ­deserved our win. We were outstanding in the first half.

“But one goal never lets you feel comfortable, we should have had more — we need to be more ruthless.”

Swansea were more than good value for the only goal, scored after eight minutes.

Alan Tate had already glanced his header wide, then the full-back turned provider after Stephen Dobbie’s inch-perfect pass set him clear on the right.

Tate’s instant cross saw Dobbie fluff his chance, but the ball broke loose for Scott Sinclair to steer it home.

Swansea’s pacey attack continued to leave the defenders struggled to cope.

Darren Dyer was turning the game in to a personal nightmare for Danny Fox. He twice scorched past the left-back, only for Dobbie to drive his cross wide and then Pratley thumped his effort against the crossbar.

Dyer was unplayable at this stage. He raced through, latching on to David Cotterill’s precise pass, and only a sprawling save by Brian Jensen kept out his drive.

Swansea, who should have been out of sight by the half-hour mark, began the second half with another blistering spell of attacks.

But the afternoon turned ugly following two dismissals in as many minutes.

This was a real pity, ­because Rodgers’ exuberant Swansea seem to be a breath of fresh air after the dour reign of Paulo Sousa.